


Hour of the Wolf

by aythia



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Were-Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-16
Updated: 2011-01-16
Packaged: 2017-11-15 23:31:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/532980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aythia/pseuds/aythia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jared found a man wounded and unconscious in the woods, he didn't hesitate to help, but he never expected for the green eyed stranger he brought home to be quite so intriguing. Or quite so...weird.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hour of the Wolf

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted at <http://aythia.livejournal.com/111472.html>

~*~

  
Jared didn't know what had woken him up; the house was silent and his dogs were asleep at the foot of the bed, their warm bodies pressed up against his legs. The heavy weight was reassuring; he wasn't even sure he would be able to sleep without them there. Except that he wasn't sleeping. According to the clock, it was 4 AM, and Jared was wide awake for no reason he could understand. The night outside the window was still pitch black, but he knew that the first glimmer of dawn couldn't be far away, and he also knew that he wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep. Instead, he pushed out of bed; the two dogs glared when his movement disturbed their sleep, but when Jared walked out of the room, they both huffed and followed him down the stairs and into the kitchen. He didn't even bother with the lights—not when he knew every step of the way—and retrieved a bottle of water from the fridge, tilting it to his dry lips.

The dogs were fully awake and happily weaving around him, and when Harley trotted out into the hallway and made a pleading little whine, Jared smiled. Despite the early hour, he walked back up to the bedroom and changed from pajama pants into jeans and a sweatshirt; when he returned to the front door, both Sadie and Harley were waiting, bouncing forward when he reached for their leashes.

"Let's go for a morning run, yeah?" Jared said. Both dogs barked in response.

The air was cold enough to make him gasp when he stepped outside, but the dogs pulled him forward and soon, the three of them were heading up the familiar old path into the woods that stretched around his house. Each step was a low thump against the soft ground; Jared picked up his speed until they were running at a steady pace, endorphins spreading an expected calm through his body as the first light turned the sky from black to hues of blue.

Jared got lost in his run. It might have been an early start to the day, but it was a good start, and he let his mind wander until a loud bark from Haley brought him out of his thoughts. He had to focus on the big dog suddenly pulling hard on his leash, trying to get off the path and into the woods to their left. Beside him, Sadie was whining, but she was pulling on her leash too and the two of them dragged him in under the heavy trees. He was just wondering how long they had been out—the first glimmer of sunlight was shining through the trees—when the dogs reached their destination and all Jared's thoughts about the time disappeared in an instant.

A man was leaning against a fallen tree, and when Jared got closer, he could see that the man’s clothes were torn and stained with dirt; a gash on his forehead dripped blood down his face. The man’s eyes were closed and for a moment, Jared thought he might be dead, but then he saw the man's chest rise and fall and he breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Harley, no, stop!" Jared said when Harley tried to get closer to the man; he pulled the dog back and tied both of their leashes to a tree to be sure they wouldn't approach the man.

Jared crouched down beside him. From up close, he could see wounds and scratches underneath the torn clothes, and that the man's hair was matted with dust and dirt. Jared reached out to carefully touch the man's shoulder.

"Hey, wake up." Jared shook him gingerly but was only met with a low groan. "C'mon, please, I can't carry you, please wake up."

The man stirred ever so slightly and Jared swore at the fact that he didn't have any water with him, but all thoughts left his mind when the man's eyes blinked open. Even glazed over with confusion and pain, they were the most startlingly green eyes Jared had ever seen.

"What...where..." the man slurred, his gravelly voice sounding strained.

"Are you..." Jared stopped himself; of course the man wasn't okay. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

The green eyes focused on Jared's hand for a second before drifting shut again.

"Three," came the barely-audible answer.

"Okay, yeah, that's... Oh no, don't pass out on me." Jared heard the panic in his voice and breathed out sigh of relief when the man's eyes flickered open again. "I don't live far away, please try and stand up and I'll take you there."

Jared pushed back the thoughts spinning in his mind, the questions about why the man was collapsed bleeding in the middle of the vast woods, miles and miles away from civilization, and his worry about what would have happened if Harley and Sadie hadn't led him there. The green-eyed stranger tried to push himself up, but it was only with Jared's help that he actually managed to do so; Jared found himself with one arm around the man's waist to keep him upright as they stumbled to where the dogs were tied up.

"These are my dogs, they led me to you," Jared said, not sure the man was actually listening to him. "We were out for a morning run."

When he untied them, both dogs sniffed the man and Harley made a low huffing sound before they placed themselves on either side of the two men; for a brief second, Jared thought they were acting like bodyguards, but when the man beside him almost dropped to the ground as his knees buckled, Jared had to redirect his focus to keeping him upright. He half-carried the man towards the path that led back to his house; he was happy that he had already been heading back by the time they had found the man, but even so, it took him almost an hour to get the weak man back to the house. They had to stop several times to let the man rest.

Despite Jared’s attempts to talk to him, the man didn't say anything, only moaning or grunting in pain, and the hour felt much longer. By the time they broke through the trees and came out on his lawn, Jared's arms were aching from the strain of keeping the man up, and when they finally got inside, he was exhausted. He knew he didn't have time to let tiredness claim him, though, instead helping the man into the small guest bathroom. The man almost fell onto the toilet seat as Jared filled the sink with warm water and reached for a clean towel.

Wetting the corner of the towel, Jared started to clean the drying blood off the man's face, causing him to flinch when Jared tried to get dirt out of the wound. The man’s deep green eyes opened and looked up at him.

"Who...are...you?"

"I'm Jared."

"Why are you...doing this?"

"What, helping you?" Jared said with a frown. "I found you, and you were obviously hurt. Of course I'll help you. What happened?"

"Got thrown out," the man mumbled, his head falling back against the tiled wall. "Only alive because...pure-blood..."

Jared didn't understand the man’s mumbled words and he didn't ask any more questions, keeping on cleaning until he could lean back and actually see the man in front of him. And what a sight he was. Jared had thought his green eyes had been amazing, but they came with freckled skin and the most sinful lips Jared had ever seen on a man, and for a moment, Jared forgot about the rest of the man's wounds in favor of looking at the beautiful face in front of him.

"Should have...let me..." the man mumbled, pulling Jared out of his thoughts.

"Let you what?" Jared asked.

"Die," the man whispered, barely audible.

Jared's heart clenched at that and he finished his work in silence, carefully cleaning the wounds he could reach through the man’s torn clothes. Before he had a chance to remove the clothes and clean the wounds properly, the man toppled forward and Jared barely had time to catch him. At first, he thought the man had passed out, but looking more carefully, he realized the man must have been so tired that he had fallen into a deep sleep. He barely managed to lift the man and with the last of his strength, carried the green-eyed stranger to the bed in the guest room. He stumbled up the stairs to his own room to fall into bed, Harley and Sadie once more curled up at his feet, and within moments, the three of them were sound asleep.

~*~

  
"No, no, no, don't make me... No... I want to stay...please..."

Jared stood looking down at the man on the bed. His head was moving from side to side; at some time during the day, the wound on his forehead had reopened and blood had dripped on the white pillowcase. Jared had been up for an hour when he had first heard the low whimpers coming from the guest room.

"Why... No...don't... I'm still me... Don't hurt me..."

The broken whimpers made the man on the bed sound a lot younger than Jared thought he must be, more vulnerable, and Jared didn't hesitate to cross over to the bed and shake the man to try and get whatever nightmare or memory he was stuck in to stop. The man merely groaned and slept on, his low words muffled by the pillow.

"Why won’t you wake up?” Jared muttered. “How can you just keep on sleeping?"

He left the man on the bed and walked into the kitchen, preparing himself a lunch and hoping that the man would wake up. After the lunch he returned to the guest room but no matter how much Jared tried, he couldn't get the man out of his deep sleep, and after a few attempts, Jared gave up. He took his dogs out into the backyard for the afternoon, unwilling to go for his usual run in case the man woke up.

~*~

  
"Hey."

The low voice behind him startled Jared enough that he dropped a strip of bacon on the floor; within seconds, Harley was there to claim it. Jared was surprised that neither of his dogs had alerted him to the man's presence, but then again, they were the worst possible guard dogs. In the doorway, the stranger stood dressed in his torn and dirty clothes, his bare feet visible under the hem of his jeans; it was the first time that it really registered in Jared's mind that the hurt man hadn't been wearing shoes, and that his jeans and torn shirt weren't much protection against the night chill. One more piece to the puzzle of _weird_.

"Oh, you're awake," Jared said. "I was starting to think that I’d have to take you to the hospital."

The man flinched at the mention of the hospital; he shook his head, groaning when the sudden motion apparently reminded him of his injury and lifting his right hand to touch the mark on his forehead. Jared's eyes tracked the movement and he couldn't hold back a gasp when he saw that the wound looked days old instead of mere hours; a quick glance down the man's body revealed pink, newly-healed skin under his ripped clothes.

"What... How..."

The man swayed on his feet and Jared moved forward to steady him.

"I think I might need some water," the man said. Close up, Jared could see how dry his lips were.

"Of course," Jared said quickly, helping him to the table. He walked over to the sink and poured the man a big glass of water, putting it down in front of him before he took a seat opposite.

"There you go," he said, pushing the glass closer when the man didn't react.

"Thank you...uh...Jared?" The man closed his hand around the glass, looking over at Jared.

"I see you heard that," Jared said with a smile. "I thought you might have been passed out."

"I remember," was all the man said.

"Will...I mean... What... Will you tell me yours?" Jared asked.

The man lifted the glass to his lips and drained half of it with a few deep swallows. When he put it back down, it was all Jared could do to not stare at his wet, shiny lips.

"Jensen," the man said quietly. "Not that it matters."

Jared frowned and leaned forward, one hand propped under his chin as he pushed the other through his hair to get it out of his face.

"Matters to me," Jared said, but Jensen didn't respond, staring at the glass in his hand.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, but then Jared remembered that he had been preparing food; he returned to the kitchen counter where Harley were sitting, patiently waiting for Jared to drop more bacon on the floor. Jared shooed his dog away and finished slicing the bacon, moving onto whisking eggs and cream together. He was sure he could feel Jensen's gaze on his back, but Jared didn't know what to say. His mind kept returning to the fact that the man's wounds were almost gone, that he had healed faster than humanly possible; the one time he did dare to glance over his shoulder, Jensen didn’t look inhuman. No, he looked very human, strong muscles moving under his shirt when he leaned over to pat Sadie; the last remnants of the sun shone in through the window and turned his short brown hair to gold.

Neither man spoke while Jared prepared the pasta carbonara, not even when Jensen stood up to refill his glass and then sat down on the floor, both dogs curling up against his body in a way that suggested they had known each other for years instead of hours.

The fragrance of bacon and garlic filled the room and Jared could feel his belly rumble; he could only imagine how hungry the other man must be. Who knew when he had last eaten? Sure enough, when Jared filled two plates with pasta, Jensen was off the floor and seated at the table in a motion so quick that Jared almost missed it; his dogs yelped in surprise.

"Huh. You're pretty fast for someone who could barely stand on his own two feet twelve hours ago," Jared said.

Green eyes snapped up to meet his, immediately flickering away again, but Jared could easily see the tension in Jensen's body; it was the only thing keeping him from asking all the questions on the tip of his tongue. Instead, he put the plates down on the table; with a mumbled 'thanks,' Jensen reached for his fork, and they ate in silence.

It wasn't until both plates were empty that Jared opened his mouth, trying to find the right words.

"Why were... I mean..." He sighed and started again. "Why were you out in the woods?"

He remembered the man’s mumbled words from when he had cleaned him up, but only parts of them made sense. Jensen looked down at his empty plate, pushing a small piece of bacon around with his fork, and Jared was just about to ask again when the man spoke.

"My p...family, they threw me out," Jensen said.

Jared understood the words, but they didn’t really add up. The man in front of him seemed to be a few years older than Jared himself, and that meant that he was at least closing in on thirty; surely he must have been living on his own?

"Why?"

"Does it matter? They did," Jensen said in a clipped tone.

"Were you... Why were you hurt? Jensen, did they hurt you? God, you should...I don't know, press charges or something?" Jared said when Jensen kept his silence.

Jensen laughed, but it was a hollow sound that made something hard and heavy settle in Jared's belly. The green-eyed man looked up and Jared felt tears burn in his eyes at his broken expression.

"They were in the right," Jensen said. "I'm... I let them down. I'm not what I'm supposed to be. To them, I’m useless. Of course they...made me leave. I don't have a place with them."

Jared felt like he should understand, like there was some vital clue he was missing, something lingering just outside of his grasp.

"You're defending them?" Jared said. He could hear the incredulity in his own voice.

"They were in the right," Jensen repeated.

Jared didn't know what to do or say to clear the broken look off of the other man's face; no words came to mind, so instead, he started clearing up the remnants of their dinner and it wasn't until the last glass was in the dishwasher that he turned to look at Jensen, who was sitting still at the table, his hands in his lap and his eyes fixed on the tabletop.

"I need to work," Jared said. Jensen looked up at him. "I slept too much of the day away and now I need to focus if I'm gonna make my deadline."

"Deadline?" Jensen asked.

"Yeah, I'm an author," Jared said, feeling a small blush creep into his cheeks.

At twenty-eight, he had been published for seven years, but it still felt weird for him to claim to be an author instead of using the term 'writer,' as he had in his teenage years. 'Author' sounded so much more real. The word seemed to stir something in Jensen; Jared could see a real spark in the man's eyes for the first time since he had opened them.

"What do you write?" Jensen asked as he pushed away from the table and stood up.

Jared was a bit stunned by the change in his companion, the slump to his shoulders giving way as the corner of his mouth tilted ever so slightly upwards.

"I write fantasy," Jared said. "Under a penname."

He wasn't really willing to tell Jensen more, but the man seemed to understand, changing the angle of the discussion without missing a beat.

"You must love books. I saw the shelves in the living room, you can’t have written them all."

"No, I'm an avid collector," Jared said, not without pride. Then a thought hit him. "Why don't you look through them while I write?"

Jensen’s green eyes went wide and Jared could see a smile tugging at his lips, but then he frowned and looked away.

"Thank you, but..." Jensen’s his fingers stroked over a tear in his shirt. "I should be...leaving. Thank you...for helping me."

"What?" Jared said without thinking. "No, you're still hurt... Where would you go?"

Jensen had his back towards Jared, but he couldn't hide the slump of his shoulders, and Jared was pretty sure the man had squeezed his eyes shut.

"I'll..."

"You don't even have clothes," Jared pointed out.

"Don't need them," Jensen muttered.

"You don't need clothes?" Jared asked. "You can't just leave like this. At least let me get you some clothes. I'm heading into town in a few days, I'll drive you and I can drop you off somewhere."

Jensen turned around and stared at Jared, the pain from earlier clearly visible on his face.

"Why are you being so nice to me? Why? When they..."

"I'm not...like your family. I don't know why they threw you out, but I won’t," Jared said. He wasn't really surprised by his own words, even though he felt like he should have been. "Please? Stay a few days?"

Jensen's small nod was enough to make Jared smile wide, and they spent the rest of the evening in silence; the only sounds were the dogs’ soft snores, Jared's fingers flying over his keyboard, and the dry rustling of book pages turning.

~*~

  
Jared stared at the man stretched out on his guest bed. Jensen seemed to be dead to the world again, and Jared wondered why he insisted on turning his days around, staying up all through the night and sleeping soundly by the time Jared woke up to take his dogs out. The first two nights, he had thought it was exhaustion from whatever had happened to Jensen, but he was starting to think that there might be something more to it; something about Jensen was just ever so slightly _off_.

With Jensen asleep on his back, it was easy for Jared to walk over and look down on him, taking in the pink spot on his forehead, scarred tissue that was almost completely healed in a way it really shouldn't have been. Jared was sure that under the borrowed tee and sweatpants, Jensen's skin would be flawless with no traces of the wounds that had been so prominent two days earlier.

Jared hadn't asked him about it; he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer, and it seemed easier to sit back and pretend that he hadn’t noticed. In the back of his mind, he was gathering more pieces of the Jensen puzzle, but he couldn't get them to fit together in a clear picture. All he knew that was in the short time since he had saved Jensen, he had gotten used to his company where he had previously relished the peace and quiet of his secluded home.

"Who are you?" Jared mumbled. "And why am I so okay with having you here?"

The silent room offered no answers, aside from a muffled sound from Jensen when the man shifted on the bed, and Jared stayed looking down at him for another few minutes before he sighed and headed out, fetching the dogs’ leashes. With Sadie and Harley by his side, he started jogging up the path, letting his muscles work until he could force away any thoughts of the man sleeping in his guest bedroom.

~*~

  
"Do you always sleep the day away?" Jared asked as the sun began to set and Jensen arrived to sit beside him on the couch.

Jensen made a small shrug, settling against the armrest. When Sadie trotted over to rest her head against his leg, he reached down and stroked her head, his fingers finding the sensitive spots behind her ears that made her eyes drift shut as her low, pleased whimper sounded through the room.

"I'm just...a night person," Jensen said without looking at Jared. "It...runs in the family."

The words were mumbled, but Jared still heard them clearly; he felt like asking for answers, but he was pretty sure Jensen wouldn't give them. Instead, the two fell into an already-practiced mix of comfortable silence, talk about the books lining Jared's walls, and soft words to the two dogs while Jared worked on wrapping the last chapter of his book, his laptop resting against his thighs.

Jared wasn't surprised when Jensen said a quiet goodbye when it was time for Jared to get some sleep. He left the other man in the corner of the couch, a book on his lap and one small lamp on the side table the only thing lighting up the room. Jared pretended the small pat he gave Jensen's shoulder on his way out was something he had planned, pretended that it didn’t make him feel good.

~*~

  
Jared didn't know what had woken him up; the house was silent, but for once, the dogs weren't in his bed. Jared couldn't even remember the last time he had woken up alone like that. He lay still as his mind climbed up from sleep to full consciousness, finally pushing out of bed to see where the dogs had gone.

The living room was empty; the book Jensen had been reading still rested on the table, but there was no trace of the man or of Jared's dogs. The clock on the wall revealed the time to be 4AM, and Jared's mind drifted to the night that he had first found Jensen; he turned towards the guest room without a second thought. Without even opening the door, he could hear the low sound Harley made when he slept coming from behind it, and Jared felt something heavy in settle his belly when he realized that the dogs had chosen Jensen's bed over his. When he pushed the door open, though, all his distress disappeared.

On the bed, three forms were curled so close together that it was hard to see where one ended and the next began, but what had Jared's breath catching in his throat and his mind doing its best to backtrack was the fact that all three of them were clearly canine. Jared blinked rapidly, but the view in front of him stayed the same: Harley and Sadie lay on the bed, both of their heads lifted to watch him step inside the room, and another body lay between their familiar figures, a lean grey one that was bigger than either of theirs.

Each piece of the puzzle suddenly seemed to click into place, all the small hints that something was wrong, that there was something Jared had been missing; all at once, he could see the picture clearly.

"He’s a werewolf."

He had barely breathed the words before the foreign form was in motion, Harley and Sadie jumping off the bed with surprised yelps as the wolf got to his feet. Despite the lack of light in the room, Jared could easily see the wolf’s bright green eyes zeroing in on him; the beginnings of a low waking growl drifted off into silence when he recognized Jared, wide-eyed in the doorway.

Jared had never imagined what a transformation would look like; five minutes earlier, he had never thought about werewolves even being real, a fact his mind was still resisting despite the evidence in front of him, evidence he couldn't deny when the wolf changed. It was nothing like the movies Jared had seen; there was no fur shedding, no limbs reshaping. Instead, there was a shimmer and a strange rippling effect, and then there was a man where the wolf had been.

A very naked man.

"Jared," Jensen said, pushing up from his position on all fours to kneel instead.

"You're..."

Jensen looked down his naked body and then gave a quick glance to the dogs standing on either side of the bed, looking back and forth between the two men.

"It does seem pretty pointless to deny," Jensen said as he met Jared's gaze.

"Werewolves aren't real," Jared said.

"I _feel_ real," Jensen said, getting off the bed.

Jared looked away when the man reached for a pair of jeans. They were Jared's, and loose on Jensen, but despite the man's leaner frame, Jared could see his strength, the compact muscles and the perfect control the werewolf seemed to have over his body in even the smallest of his movements.

"It wasn't your family that kicked you out," Jared said. "It was your _pack_."

"They were my family," Jensen said as he sat down on the bed. "They were all I ever had, all I ever knew."

"Why?" Jared asked, still struggling to make sense of everything.

Jensen stood in silence for a long time before whatever strength he had been clinging to went out of him and he sunk down to the floor, his back against the bed. Sadie and Harley moved to his sides yet again, their low whines filling the room as they tried to comfort him.

"Werewolves aren't as understanding as humans," Jensen said in a broken voice. "My pack is...was all about pure blood, and what good to them was a werewolf who wouldn't produce offspring?"

"Offspring? You can't have children?" Jared asked.

Jensen didn't look up, his fingers still stroking over the dogs’ sleek fur. Jared thought that the movement might be more soothing for the man than for the dogs.

"I can, but I won't," Jensen said. "The pack didn't see a need for a gay werewolf. Only reason they even let me live is that they don't like killing pure-bloods."

Jared stared at him in silence, completely at a loss for words.

"Maybe they think I’ll grow out of it," Jensen added in a subdued tone.

"This can't... This isn't..." Jared closed his eyes for a moment. "I can't..."

He turned away and left the room without another word, moving unthinkingly through the house and not stopping until he heard himself slam his bedroom door. He sank down to the floor, his back pressed against his bed, and wondered if Jensen was sitting in the same position in the other room.

~*~

  
Jared stood in silence and watched the sleeping man on the bed. Part of him was surprised that Jensen was still there, but all of him was definitely grateful for it. The discoveries of the previous night weighed heavily on him and he couldn't help feeling that he could have dealt with it in a different way. Maybe a better way.

A few hours later, Jared was settled at the kitchen table, his laptop in front of him with several browser tabs open, each one displaying different search results about werewolves. The information he found wasn't fitting with the man he had saved, though, and Jared felt a headache creeping in from trying to make sense of it all.

"I don't only change at the full moon," came Jensen's voice from behind him. "In case you were wondering."

Jared spun around in his chair and looked at the man standing in the doorway; he waited for his fear and panic to return, but for some reason, they didn't. He didn't see the wolf, didn't see wilderness embodied. He only saw Jensen.

"I kind of figured," Jared mumbled. "How come...you changed last night?"

Jensen moved to the counter and poured himself a cup of coffee before he sat down across from Jared, holding the mug in both hands.

"The urge to transform doesn’t get stronger during the full moon, as your research is probably telling you it does," Jensen said. He took a sip of coffee. "Fittingly enough, you humans call it the Hour of the Wolf, the darkest hour of the night."

Jared tried to not flinch at Jensen's casual mention of 'you humans,' but he was sure the other man had noticed anyway.

"I didn't mean to transform,” Jensen admitted. “It just happened.”

Jared nodded and thought about Jensen's words. They had been so simple for the man to speak, but to Jared, the casual way that Jensen had confirmed that he wasn't human meant everything.

"I should make dinner," Jared said, standing up and walking over to the fridge. He was sure he could feel Jensen's eyes on him the entire time.

"I never meant for you to find out," Jensen said. "We don't...let humans know. We're not a part of your world and we're not supposed to be. I'm sorry; I’ll be out of here tonight."

"What?" Jared spun around, dropping the eggs he had been holding. "You're leaving?"

Jensen was already halfway to the door; he froze at Jared's words but didn't turn around to face him.

"You're better off without me," Jensen said. "Our species don't mix."

"You said you're pure-blood," Jared said. "That must mean there are half-bloods, too."

Jensen turned around then but didn't meet Jared's gaze, his green eyes firmly glued to the floor and his body a tense line.

"My pack didn't approve of half-bloods," Jensen said stiffly. "But yes, there are those out there who’ve been bitten, humans turned to werewolves."

"So then our species _do_ mix," Jared pointed out.

"What do you want Jared, do you want me to _bite_ you?" Jensen looked up, his anger flaring high. "You're still freaked out about what I am, that my kind even exists. I'm no one, Jared; I don't fit in, not in your world, not in mine. I’ll leave, and you’ll forget you ever met me. That's how this works."

Jensen turned around again and left the room. Jared was frozen in place for a few long minutes before he followed, the mess of eggs on the floor totally forgotten as he walked down the hallway to the guest room and pushed the door open.

"You can't just...show me things like this, tell me things like this, and then _leave_ ," he said angrily.

Jensen was standing beside the bed, his old torn clothes clutched in his hands and his anger still simmering under the surface, evident when he dropped the garments on the bed and faced Jared head on.

"I'm not a lapdog, Jared," Jensen said as he walked closer. "I don't know what you expect from me."

"Answers!"

"Oh, really? And how would those help? I could talk about my species forever and it wouldn't change a thing," Jensen said with a bitter laugh. "Don’t you think I see how you flinch when I mention that I'm not human? The last few days have been...nice...but I can't play house with you anymore."

"Why not?" Jared’s words surprised him as much as they seemed to surprise Jensen.

"What?"

"Why not?" Jared repeated. "I'm not saying you have to stay forever, but...don't leave now, don’t leave because of this. I have—I want to know more."

"You want me to stay to be your...encyclopedia of werewolves?" Jensen frowned.

"No! I want you to stay because..."

Jared paused, but as soon as he did, he realized why he wanted Jensen to stay.

"Because I like you."

Jensen's eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. He quickly bit down on his full lower lip, trying to hold something back, and took a few deep breaths before he opened his mouth again.

"You don't know me," he pointed out. "I'm your...charity case."

"What? No, you're not!" Jared protested. "And maybe I don't know you _that_ well, but I really want to, because everything I do know? That, I do like."

"You're nicer than anyone I've ever met," Jensen said. "I don't get it—even now, you know what I am, and you're still... It doesn't make sense."

"I'm nicer than your pack?” Jared said harshly. “I’m nicer than your family who threw you out? I'm happy about that." He immediately regretted the words when he saw Jensen flinch. "I'm sorry, that...that came out wrong. It's just...not all humans are like your—your pack."

Jensen huffed a small laugh and looked away, running a hand through his hair.

"I wouldn't know,” he said bitterly. “It's not... I haven't really... My pack, we didn't mix with humans if we could avoid it. We didn't even mix with half-bloods."

"Oh."

"I didn't know that I would..." Jensen stopped for a second, taking a deep breath before he went on. "I really didn't know that I would like it. Them. I like your world. I like _you_."

The last words were spoken so quietly that at first, Jared thought he hadn't heard correctly. When Jensen looked up at him, though, Jared couldn't keep a small, teasing smile off his face.

"You don't know me," he said with a grin.

Jensen stared at him for a moment, and they both started laughing. The way the laughter changed Jensen's appearance was amazing; his eyes came to life and his lingering hurt seemed to dissipate as small laugh lines appeared around them. Jared moved without thinking about it—his mouth covered Jensen's in a soft kiss, and he couldn't stop a low moan when the other man's lips parted under his for the briefest of seconds before Jensen pulled away.

"No—I can't. Not like this." Jensen took a step away from Jared.

"I'm sorry,” Jared said, stepping back as well. “I didn't mean to... I though you meant that you _liked_ me, like...that."

"I do!” Jensen said. “I... I’ve never felt like this before. For anyone."

"And that's bad?" Jared asked with a small, hopeful smile.

"It's..." Jensen’s cheeks were slightly pink when he looked up Jared. "Wolves—well, werewolves, anyway. We...mate for life."

It was Jared's turn to stare in wide-eyed surprise as Jensen’s words sunk in and he tried to find a suitable response. He was waiting for his panic to return when something clicked in his mind.

"You’ve never..." he started. "Oh,” he interrupted himself. “You're a _virgin_?"

Jensen's cheeks turned from pink to red and he refused to look at Jared; instead, he turned around and picked at the clothes he had discarded on the bed.

"Obviously," he muttered.

"You mate for life?" Jared started over as what Jensen had actually said hit him. "And you don't want that with me."

He made it into a statement instead of a question and was surprised when Jensen spun around to protest.

"No!” he said at once. “I do want that, I do, but I can't... I can't ask that of you. We're not even the same species, it's wrong."

"Is that you speaking, or your pack?" Jared asked.

"What?" Jensen said with a puzzled expression.

"I don't see what's wrong." Jared began to close the distance between them. "If you want me, and I want you, what's the problem?"

Jensen looked shocked for a moment, but then something changed in his eyes and he smiled, small wrinkles reappearing around his eyes. It was the happiest Jared had ever seen him; the man was almost inhumanly gorgeous when he really smiled, and when Jared leaned in for a second kiss, Jensen didn’t pull away. Instead, his fingers came up to tangle in Jared's hair and he pulled Jared's head down, deepening the kiss and slipping his tongue in between Jared's lips.

A big part of Jared was surprised at the turn of events. An hour earlier, the possibility of sex hadn’t even crossed his mind, but once it had? He knew what he wanted: He wanted Jensen. And if the way Jensen was kissing him was anything to go by, they were firmly on the same page.

Jared's hands found perfect a resting place on Jensen's hips and he pulled the other man closer, relishing the taste of his mouth. He wondered if it was just his imagination or if Jensen really did taste just a little bit wild.

"So, we're really doing this?" Jensen mumbled against his lips.

"Oh, we are," Jared answered. He pushed Jensen down.

Jensen went willingly, his lean body stretching out on the bed, and Jared let his fingers move from Jensen's hip and up over his sides, slowly pushing Jensen's tee up as he went to reveal tanned, freckled skin. He couldn't tear his eyes away, and when Jensen pushed up to make it easier for Jared to pull off his clothing, Jared pushed down in response and licked a trail up Jensen's chest, stopping to let this tongue circle around a nipple and teasing it until the small nub hardened under his tongue. He smiled against Jensen's skin when the other man let out a low moan. Jensen's whole body arched up against him when he moved over to lick and bite at the other nipple, a flush spreading from his cheeks and neck down over his torso.

"Jared," Jensen gasped, his fingers dragging against Jared's shoulders. "Please."

Jared wasn't sure what Jensen was asking for and he didn't think the man himself knew, either, but it didn't really matter because there was nothing Jared didn't want to do. His fingers slid back down Jensen's body, tracing over the firm muscles that rippled under his touch, until he reached the waistline of Jensen's jeans. His eager fingers fumbled with the button until he gave up and pulled the pants down; since they belonged to Jared, they were loose enough on Jensen's frame to come off easily, and Jared felt heat surge through his body at the thought of pulling his own clothes off of Jensen.

He had to stop for a moment and push himself up enough to be able to look down Jensen's body, taking in what looked like miles of perfect skin stretched out for him to explore. Jared wanted to take his time to cover every inch, but he wasn't sure his patience would be up for it just then—not when Jensen’s every little gasp and moan made his need rise.

"So gorgeous." Jared smiled down at him.

"Jared," Jensen said with a low growl. "I might be a virgin, but I'm not your fragile little flower. _Please_. _Do_ something!"

"I can do that," Jared said. He pulled off his own shirt and threw it onto the floor.

Jensen didn't have any problems with Jared's jeans; he made quick work of the button and zipper, pushing the pants down, and Jared lowered his own hands to get them off quicker. All he wanted was to feel his own naked skin against Jensen's, and the second he was freed of his clothes, he draped himself over Jensen, pressing their bodies together from head to toe as he kissed the other man greedily. Jensen's hands roamed over Jared's body like he couldn't get enough of the feel of it; Jared wasn't one to protest. He knew exactly how Jensen felt, his own hands moving down over Jensen's waist and hips to land on his thighs, pushing his legs apart.

Jared rolled his hips down, the movement sliding their cocks together with a sweet friction that made them moan into each other's mouths, sharing breaths. Jared felt Jensen's skin slick with a thin sheen of sweat.

"You're teasing," Jensen groaned when Jared made another lay roll of his hips.

"Yeah," Jared agreed, pulling away from the kiss.

"Didn't mean you should stop," Jensen protested.

Jared grinned and slid down Jensen's body, trailing butterfly kisses down his chest and belly until Jensen was almost quivering under the light touch of Jared's lips. Jared made sure to catch the other man’s gaze before he slid further down and flicked his tongue out to lick from the base of Jensen's cock up to the tip that was already wet with pre-come.

"Ooh," Jensen moaned, his eyes fluttering shut.

Jared licked around the head, gathering thick fluid on his tongue; he couldn't keep from moaning and quickly wrapped his lips around Jensen's cock, sliding down in one fluid motion that had Jensen's hand fisting into the bed sheet. Only Jared's hands on his hips kept him from pushing deeper into Jared's mouth. Jensen's cock was a heavy weight on Jared’s tongue, and when he hollowed out his cheeks and started sucking in slow and steady motions, Jensen practically melted into the mattress. Low, broken whimpers escaped him and he lifted one hand to tangle in Jared's hair, pushing at the back of his skull; Jared knew a request when he felt it and picked up his speed, sliding his hand down to cup Jensen's balls and stroke over the soft skin in just the right way. When he pressed his tongue against the sensitive bundle of nerves on the underside of Jensen's dick, he wasn't surprised to hear a half-choked cry, but he was surprised by the sudden snap of Jensen's hips and thick spurts of come that filled his mouth.

He sucked Jensen through the orgasm until the man beneath him whimpered and tugged at Jared's hair; Jared withdrew, still holding the last of Jensen's come in his mouth, and before the other man could pull himself together, Jared slid down further and pushed Jensen's legs apart and up to reveal the soft curve of his ass and the darker skin of his tight asshole. Jensen had time to gasp, but nothing more before Jared let the mix of his own saliva and Jensen's come dribble down over the opening; he massaged the tight muscle with one finger, feeling Jensen tense up at the touch. He quickly relaxed, and Jared pushed another finger into his own mouth to gather the rest of the mixture before he carefully pressed his finger into Jensen.

Jensen gasped as his inner muscles clamped down hard around Jared's finger, all silken heat, and Jared wanted more, wanted to bury himself deep, but he knew he needed to take his time. He pushed his finger in deeper and held still as Jensen's ragged breathing filled the room. He could feel Jensen relax around him; Jared began to slowly push his finger in and out until Jensen's hips started rocking down, begging for more. Jared pulled his finger all the way out and Jensen made a low, annoyed sound, but before he could say anything, Jared leaned down and pressed the tip of his tongue against the inviting pink rim.

"What... Oh..." Jensen gasped, his legs falling farther apart.

Jared smiled and pressed his tongue forward. He felt the come he still held in his mouth leak out to wet Jensen's skin, and his finger returned to push the wetness into Jensen until Jared was sure he was ready for more; Jensen made a low mewling sound when Jared pushed a second finger inside the slick heat.

"More," Jensen groaned. "Want more."

Jared started scissoring his fingers, slowly stretching the muscle and searching for that special spot inside Jensen; when he found it, the other man's whole body arched up, his stomach muscles shining with sweat. The sound that spilled from his lips was somewhere between a moan and a growl. Jared looked at the rim stretched around his fingers and leaned in to trace it with his tongue, tasting the saltiness of Jensen's come and a darker taste beneath it that he knew he wanted more of. He pushed his fingers further apart, pressing his tongue in between them to taste more of Jensen.

"Jared, c'mon, stop teasing," Jensen groaned.

Jared didn't answer; instead, he pushed his tongue in as far as possible, swirling it around to taste the inside of the rim. It was like electricity ran through Jensen—for a second, his whole being shimmered and the muscles under his smooth skin rippled; Jared was so shocked that he pulled back, his fingers sliding out of Jensen.

"Don't stop," Jensen protested. "Can't stop now... I...don't know, just. _Need_."

The shimmer was gone, but the ripples of Jensen's body were still there, and the man was squirming on the bed; his hips rolled up against Jared, the invitation clear in each movement. Jared grasped Jensen’s hips and flipped him around; Jensen gasped and bit out a few curses when his hard cock was trapped against the bed. He scrambled to his hands and knees, pushing his ass up for Jared to admire. Jared let one hand trace over Jensen's hips, barely aware of moving until he was positioned right behind Jensen, his hard cock aimed at his hole. Jensen arched back against him, making his cock paint pre-come against his freckled skin. Jared hesitated then, his eyes fixed on where his bare cock was sliding against Jensen's skin.

"I can hear you thinking," Jensen mumbled, his head pressed down against the pillow. "Stop it. I can't get any human diseases, so please, just _fuck_ me already!"

Jensen didn't leave him any time to think about it, pushing back in a quick motion that fit Jared's cock through the tight ring. The friction and heat was like nothing Jared had ever felt before.

"Jensen," he gasped as his fingers dug into the other man's hips, forcing him to hold still while Jared took deep breaths, forcing back the orgasm that was already threatening to tear through him. "Careful or I’ll... _God_ this feels good."

Slowly, he pushed forward, disappearing inch by inch, and Jared couldn't pull his eyes away from the spot where his cock was sliding into Jensen's willing body, his pink rim stretching wide around him until Jared was completely buried. He had to force himself again to keep still; the tightness of Jensen's ass was perfection, and he let one hand slide over the curve of firm muscles until his fingers stroked over where they were connected. The small touch was enough to pull Jensen from his stillness and Jared felt the muscle surrounding him flex, squeezing him hard. Jensen moaned when Jared's cock touched his prostate.

"Jen," Jared hissed as he pulled back, his cock almost leaving Jensen's body.

"Don't you dare stop," Jensen growled, pushing back to take Jared's cock all the way inside again.

The friction and searing heat were enough to make Jared give up any pretense of self-control; he pulled back once more only to slam back into Jensen hard enough to make him cry out in surprise. All thoughts of trying to taking it slow disappeared from Jared's mind—not that Jensen minded, if the groans each hard thrust pulled from him were anything to go by. Jared's gaze was locked on the sight of himself slamming into Jensen over and over; he saw the way the other man's tight ass stretched around him, the muscle almost pulling him further in, and he let his fingers brush over the rim a few times, sliding through the mix of come, pre-come, and saliva that slicked the way.

Jensen's nails dug hard into the bed and when Jared circled his hips and pushed all the way in, he could see them tear through the sheet; the sight turned him on even more. The parts of Jensen that weren't human made him even more intriguing, hotter than anything Jared had experienced before.

They had found a rhythm, Jensen arching under him to meet each thrust, and Jared knew he wouldn't be able to hold back his orgasm much longer. He reached down under Jensen to close his long fingers around the man's cock, moaning when he felt how hard Jensen was, how slick the tip was when Jared's fingers slid up to gather the pre-come. He started working the man's cock with hard, determined movements, each thrust of his hips met with a twist of his hand, and when Jensen hit his second orgasm, he did it with a scream, biting down hard on the pillow. His whole body flexed under Jared, around him, tipping him over the edge as well. Jared was sure that the only thing keeping Jensen up was Jared's hands on his hips, holding him still while Jared fucked him hard. He emptied himself deep inside of Jensen, feeling the come around his cock.

"Jared, oh... Jared, please," Jensen moaned.

Jared wasn't sure he could answer, unsure he would be able to form the words over the blinding pleasure that tore through him with each hard thrust. When his orgasm subsided, he collapsed almost on top of Jensen; they lay like that for a few long moments, ragged breathing and low groans the only things filling the room as the two of them slowly came back down.

"That was...amazing..." Jensen mumbled.

It had been more than amazing; Jared didn't want to pull out, but he knew that his weight must be uncomfortable for the man beneath him. He slowly he pulled free, smiling at Jensen’s low protest when his softening cock slid free; he lay down beside Jensen, who turned on his side to face Jared, his eyes the brightest green Jared had ever seen them. For the first time, he realized that there were flecks of gold mixed in with the green.

"I guess we're good with each other," Jared said, resting his hand on Jensen's hip. "I guess some werewolves and humans _do_ mix."

"Yeah," Jensen said with a contented sigh. "Where...where do we go from here?"

Jared knew it was a huge thing for Jensen, what they had just done, and he thought about how whatever it was between them must be 'it' for Jensen. As he did, though, Jared realized that he was pretty sure that Jensen was 'it' for him, too. Or at least, he could be.

"One step at the time," Jared said. "You stay here and we play house, get to know each other for real, and see where this goes? That's all I can offer right now."

Jensen rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling in half-lidded concentration. Jared watched him for a few long minutes until he looked back with a small smile.

"I’ll take it."

_**~The End~** _

  



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